photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections and Journal-World File

Johnie Lomas Saluto

A man returned to Douglas County in the midst of serving a 10-year sentence for multiple child sex crimes to face charges for additional sex crimes.

The man, Johnie Lomas Saluto, 35, was sentenced in Douglas County District Court in August of 2020 to 122 months in prison, over 10 years, for two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. He had pleaded guilty as part of an agreement that dismissed two additional counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, all felonies, as the Journal-World reported. Those incidents were alleged to have occurred over four years beginning in 2015.

The plea agreement also reduced the level of charges from an off-grid felony, sparing him from a life sentence in prison. The charges as they were originally filed alleged that the victim was under the age of 13 at the time of the crimes, which triggered Jessica’s Law.

In that case, Saluto had told police that he watched pornography in front of the girl and engaged in inappropriate touching, according to an affidavit in support of the charges.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Johnie L. Saluto appears at a hearing in Douglas County District Court on Tuesday, May 28, 2019.

Saluto has now been charged with one felony count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of 13 and one count of lewd and lascivious behavior for allegedly exposing himself to a second child also under the age of 13. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in December of 2017, according to charging documents. The aggravated indecent liberties charge is again an off-grid felony that could result in Saluto being sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

Saluto was transferred to the Douglas County Jail on Dec. 14 and is being held on a $25,000 cash or surety bond; however, if Saluto posted bond he would be returned to the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections to serve the remaining four years on his original sentence, according to court records. Saluto is next scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 9, 2024.